Brothel: Chapter 8
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Rangi and I, as well as the mercenaries, had boarded the boat with the Admiral and were now on our way to the other side of the island. The scenery from this angle was purely amazing, and the city, smoke, and fire were very far out of site.
I had never seen the island from this view, being from how I was never allowed anywhere near the water or any ship. When I was brought to the island, I had been so young that even if I had seen it back then, I would not be able to recall it clearly.
The beauty of the island however was truly the least of my immediate concerns, as I was now aboard a small ship, much like a canoe but sturdier and with a sail. The Admiral has said nothing since we had gotten on besides a few quick words to the mercenaries who captured us. My second concern was for Rangi's well being. I was barely able to accept what had just happened after all my years, my life, of being here. I couldn't help but wonder what was running through his mind only having been here for few weeks.
He was lucky however, he never got the chance to be broken, used and set aside like an object. The mistress had insisted that he master the language and learn how to serve before being sold to clients as a whore. This was simply to give him time, as with everyone who had ever been brought to the house, to accept their fate and learn that this was now their way of life, and that there was nothing that they could do. He was most fortunate by every sense of the word.
My third concern was about everyone in the Brothel who I had worked with. Whether they had all perished, escaped, or were taken by other's against their will was something that weighed heavily on my chest. I both feared and worried about what had become of them, but had to accept that I may never know. To accept that I would never have my chance to say my goodbyes, or to touch them one last time in an embrace.
One could say from this that life is cruel, unfair and that terrible events always happen to furs who don't deserve it. Who are we to say this? To question the fate that everyone was assigned at the start of their life? There is nothing we can do to alter our course in life and what is destined to happen, so the only thing to do, to overcome, is the acceptance.
I could not say for sure what was on the Admiral 's mind, but I felt no real desire to ask. He was sitting in the front of the boat, looking into the horizon for perhaps answers or guidance, as I had many times, and many more before me. Even if I were to ask him, I know I would have no answers for his questions, wise words perhaps, but no real answers.
Rangi shifted gently next to me, brushing his up against mine. Though the ship was long, able to sit a few more than us, it was not wide being only slightly more than that of a canoe. His fur was matted and in need of a thorough brushing, which a surmised was something that was not going to be available one we got to wherever it was we were heading. My fur was not much better having been in the explosion, and the pain in my arm was now coming to the forefront of my mind with a vengence.
I pushed the pain aside hoping to have a few moments more without it being a constant reminder. The mercenaries changed the makeshift bandage they had tied to my arm with another made from Rangi's shirt. They had said the wound would need to be closed, but for now the serious bleeding had stopped.
"Are you.. alright?" The Admiral finally asked, still staring at the horizon but now with his ears folded down.
"Other than my arm, yea..." My answer wasn't to convincing and I knew that before I said it, but with what just happened, I doubt anyone would be completely ok.
His left ear twitch a little at hearing that, an emotion I was not sure how to gauge, but he said nothing and another moment passed.
"We are heading towards the back end of the island, where my ship and a small fleet are getting ready to cast off. We will be there in a few hours time."
"What was the destruction of the city, my home about" I asked bluntly, not to be disrespectful and to get at least a few more answers.
"The ones who attacked the island are freedom fighters. They stand against slavery, torture, and any form of cruel unjust punishment. They arrived here the same time we did, and we regarded each other with no pleasantries".
"Was their attack planned? I had seen a pair of them in the brothel and that seemed a bit put off to be honest."
"We knew an attack was going to happen, we just didn't know the size. Our navy thought what we brought would be enough to stop them, but clearly they were wrong. I'm sorry that... everything you knew is gone, and your way of life destroyed. The entire chain of islands is now under their control, we no longer own anything in the Caicassian."
"Caicassian?" I questioned never hearing this world before
"It's what we called the chain of islands, it was their proper name and is even such on maps and globes.
I had no words to respond past this point, and no way to convey the way I felt. I saw him looking at me, and in his eyes I could see the sorrow that he felt was genuine. All I could do was nod to show that I had heard what he said, and to show I understood. I look back at Rangi to see if he was listening in to the conversation, but he had his head propped up by his paw, the elbow of his arm resting on the side of the ship to support the weight.
"You two must be tired. Feel free to sleep if you wish, I will wake you on arrival." His voice was quiet and he went back to staring off into the horizon, ears relaxed and somewhat splayed off to the sides.
I honestly felt as if I was going to end up falling asleep whether I wanted to or not, but the boat did not offer much in the way of room.
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"Mommy, look what I found in the forest. It's so colorful and smells real good. I picked it for you. It reminded me of you."
"Oh dear it so beautiful." She held the flower up to her nose and sniffed it with her eyes closed embracing the scent. "The only thing I can think of that smells better is you." she grinned and rubbed my head. "Now go outside and play while I clean the rest of the house."
"It's getting ready to rain mommy, didn't you feel the air and how cold it has gotten?"
She took a moment and looked outside and nodded. "I'm sorry dear I did not notice. Well, what do you say to a book and some leftover soup. How about the tail of Captain Simba and his ship that sailed the world."
"Oh mommy that would be great, I love the stories you make. the way you say everything is colorful and I can imagine myself being there. Oh mommy can we please have story time?"
"Absolutely! Now why don't you go sit in the main room and play while mommy warms up the food. Or you can go to your room and I'll call you when its ready."
"Ok mommy!"
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I woke up to the shift of my body shifting forward and a loud thump only to find that in front of me was the hull of a very large ship. The wood was polished to a very dark brown color and appeared to be well sanded, and no doubt of nothing less than excellent quality. It reflected the sun behind us so well that I had to advert my eyes from the glare.
Rangi was still asleep by my side, one arm leaning over the side of the boar, the other being use as a pillow for his head. I gently shook him to wake him up, getting nothing more than a light groan. I continued to rock him back and forth until he started opening his eyes and flicking his ears.
"Rangi time to get up, we are at the Admiral 's ship. He says they have just cooked up some delicious fish they just caught!" I knew it was a cruel thing to say, but I myself wanted to get off of this oversized canoe. His ears perked in excitement, and as if thinking about the possibility of the statement being true they slowly started to drop.
"Have you got him awake yet, or should I sent down some men to carry him on board?" the Admiral asked.
"I said you had fish cooked up, so that got him excited. He is going to hate me now though because you don't actually have any" I replied still aiming to tease Rangi.
"Fish? Hell that all we eat. We can't carry much in the way of fresh meat on a ship, it goes bad too quickly."
With that Rangi instantly stood up putting his muzzle to the sky as if to smell the towering ship above us for signs of validity. He then lolled his tongue out the side of his mouth and started drooling. I couldn't help but to chuckle at the sight as he did what all of the feline species seem to do around fist, especially if they were starving.
"Oh my, I don't think I have ever seen a cat do that before in my entire life." the Admiral commented. "All the felines on my ship are trained to keep their tongue in their muzzles, and the fact that they are sick of fish like every fur on the ship probably helps as well. If you want some however, I suggest that both of you get up the ladder as it will be gone soon."
With that we carefully made our way to the front of the small ship to the rope ladder hanging down in front of it. The climb to the deck of the massive ship was that of about a three-floored building, the only comfort being that fact that there was water beneath me. I wasn't so much scared of the height as I was of the worn and overused look of the ladder.
The Admiral was less concerned about the condition of the ladder and made his way up, the ladder swinging side to side a little with ever step he took. He was a good bit heavy than me and Rangi so it was safe to assume that if it was supporting him, it would support us. As the Admiral reached the halfway point, I decided to take hold of the ladder and start climbing up myself.
I turned back for a quick second to check on Rangi, who still had his nose in the air looking up to where the ladder was attached to the ship. I doubt he would even notice, nor care about the climb just as long as he got food. I had to admit though that a whole day without eating was starting to take its toll on me as well, and I could feel my stomach bubbling and my arms and legs starting to feel weak. No doubt that Rangi was feeling the same effects.
I reached the halfway point as the Admiral stepped onto the deck of the ship. I wrapped an arm around the ladder and looked out behind me at the view. What I saw was both breath taking as well as somehow peaceful. I could see the water on my left and right, and the island from this view did not look like a place of slavery, or brothels. It looked somehow much less menacing and cleaner. Though this was probably due to a lack of buildings and ships.
I reached the top a few minutes after the Admiral and was helped up onto the top of the deck where I immediately sat down. It took a minute for my body to remind me about my arm, but it didn't feel as if I had opened the wound and I didn't feel any blood trickling down my fur.
It was only a few moment before Rangi made his way to the top and they helped him up as they did me. He sat down next time and what I could assume was a deckhand brought us a large plate of fish. He appeared to be a stunted wolfdog, being about a little more than half of the admirals size. His fur was the unique assortment of normal wolfdog, consisting of mostly gray colored fur colors. His tail was also stunted and the fur being slightly matted and coarse. The fur on his body appeared to be equally as coarse but brushed enough to make it uniform and straight.
"This is my first mate, we call him Tiny Tim as a nickname though you can refer to him as Commander Utah. He will be in direct charge of you and your well being. If you need anything please feel free to seek him out. Most of our crew will not speak your language but some are trained and will be ordered to assist you. In the mean time enjoy yourselves. I will call for you later to explain more in depth of what is going to happen, For now however I must retire."
With that the Admiral entered through a large door on the deck into a enclosed, and from I could briefly see a nicely furnished room. It took the better third of the rear of the ship and I assumed that the end of the room was also the end of the ship as well, though there was a little path to the sides that I could only assume for now allowed a fur to walk around it.
"Alki, are you not going to eat?" Rangi finally said after all this time of slience. "It's not bad, and it is food. I know canines aren't exactly keen on seafood but you must have something."
There was no doubting that I was very hungry, and the quality of the food would have been fine in comparison to the house, maybe a little less since what we did eat were leftover made for clients so it had to be quality. I just did not feel like eating, but I picked up a piece and started eating it to make him happy, or less concerned about my well being.
To be honest, I was interested in my current surroundings more than I was food. I knew I was brought to the island on a big ship, very similar to this one, but the memory was at this point just a faded image. I knew at the time I was very scared, and had no idea what was going on. They only allowed me to stay awake long enough to eat, or to go out on the deck to keep me from getting sick. Each isolated memory was too short to get any type of exact detail from, but for some reason I felt uneasy to be on this ship.
I looked back at the plate of fish which was now missing at least four more fillets and only 3 remained on the plate. Rangi himself didn't seem to be concerned and was just happy to be getting food and off the island, an island I called home since I was 19.
"We set sail at dawn tomorrow." I heard Commander Utah say from behind us. "We will be returning to the mainland. I am not sure what the Admiral intends to do with you both as of yet. There is no need to be concerned yet as it will take us about a week to reach the mainland if we have good winds. The weather will become no doubt hotter than what you are used to as the mainland is on the equator."
"The equator? what is that and how does it make it hotter" I heard Rangi ask. I was curious myself as I had never heard that term before in either language.
"It's the center of the Earth, and it is hotter due to it being closer to the sun."
"Earth?" I asked in unison with Rangi.
"Oh, forgive me for not offering a full explanation. What we live on is called a planet, and it is in the shape of... a ball and we call it Earth. It rotates around the sun in the sky."
Rangi and I both gave each other quizzical looks. "You mean to tell us that it is not flat like a map, and that it is a ball?" I asked being more puzzled than I have been in quite a long while.
"Correct."
"And the sun does not move, rather we move around it? Like in a circle?" Rangi asked managing to sound somehow more confused.
"Yes."
"It seems like everything we have been told is wrong, and everything we know is backwards. How will we ever live in any other place? I mean Rangi could manage, but I've been a whore for 13 years. I'm tired and passed the midpoint in my usefulness in life. I'll be 33 this year, Most don't make it over 50. Hell on the island you would be lucky if you made it to 35 before you fell ill." I confessed feeling somehow overwhelmed with sadness in admitting this out loud.
The Commander looked down at the deck for a second before sitting down next to me. "Sometimes, what we do cannot be helped, and what we become is a product of our surrounding. It may look daunting to try anything new because you have been told that 'this' is who you are or that 'this' is what you do. But somewhere inside there is the real you, and while others can help you are the only one who can end up bringing him out. I won't say it is easy, but I can tell you it is certainly possible."
"What do you mean?" I asked back. I did not get an answer however. He simply just got up showing a slight grin as he looked away from me.
"Oh right!" he stopped and turned around "Let's get your arm properly mended shall we. I almost completely forgot the Admiral mentioned something about it. Please follow me."
Next to the door that the admiral went into was an opening into the inside of the ship, very much like a wine cellar. It was only a few steps, about six or so, until we reached the floor. It wasn't dark inside, but it wasn't exactly well lit either. It was just a little brighter than the lanterns in the brothel after we closed.
We followed him to the left and then turned right as we reached the ships cannons, which we by my standards very large, though I can say I had nothing to compare them to. We reached what I assumed what the back of the ship, and we entered a room that was more or less a giant walk-in-closet. Inside was a bed just big enough for one person to lay on, a chair, and an assortment of odd looking metal objects hanging on the wall.
"Hmm I wonder where the doctor is" the Commander commented.
"I'm right behind you." A voice came from behind us. I turned to face a solid golden, long furred canine who was as tall as I was, and very slender. Her eyes were a deep brown and her ears were floppy and folded over themselves. "Who are these two?" She was wearing a long white coat with matching pants, appearing to made from cotton. Her head fur was long and brushed to hang over her shoulders and well as over her back, and did not have any sort of jewelry or pins to hold it into place. Other jewelry such as necklaces or bracelets were also absent from her body, leaving her looking bland and serious looking
"They are guests of the Admiral, and the Fennec here needs to have his arm mended." he replied pointing a claw and the makeshift bandage.
"Hmm, please have a seat on the cot there." she said vaguely waving towards it. I took a seat and she pulled up the chair next to my arm and began undoing the bandage. "Hmm... Something beat you up didn't it?. From the looks of it I'm guessing whatever it was was metal, but not a weapon. What I'm about to do it going to hurt a bit, but please try to hold as still as you can."
I could tell that I was still bleeding, but I could not muster up the courage to look at my arm. Instead watched her grab a bottle of a clear liquid that smelled like ale, but was much stronger and did not entice the feeling of wanting to drink. She pours some on a white rag, just enough to cover a section, and place it against my arm. For a split second it was cold, than hot, and then felt like my arm was on fire, but I did not move it despite my head screaming I should and the tears forming in my eyes.
"Hmm, he is braver than you are Commander. Just hold still for a few more seconds, the pain won't last to much longer."
She was right, the fire I felt started to die down leaving more of a feeling of loss, like somehow that part of my arm no longer existed. I watched as she pulled out a needle and some sort of thread.
"Ok, I don't know if you had this kind of medical technique on the island, but I'm going to essentially sew you up, like you would with a piece of damaged clothing. I'm using a catgut suture so there will be no need to remove it as it will decay over time. You must be careful for a few days with this arm and not strain yourself, unless you want to come visit me again. Now this should not hurt too much, but you still might be able to feel it."
The sound of being "sewed up" was a displeasing one and sounded as painful, so I did not watch her work on my arm, instead I indirectly studied the Commander in more depth. I noticed that the tips of his ears had no fur, and looked as if the fur had been pulled out. His paws were also small, matching his body size. However I had no doubt that he possessed a considerable amount of strength given the clearly defined veins in his arms.
"And... Done!" You as good as new, in about 10 to 14 days. Let me just place this bandage on you and you will be all set to go. Oh and as far as your fur goes, I'm not sure if it will grow back or not since that was a pretty deep gash so we will just have to see."
She slapped a white patch on my arms and patted me on my back. "Now you can go. Have fun with whatever is it you going to be doing!"
I got off the cot and she walked me out of the room with her paw on my back gently guiding me. We turned back and she smiled, brushing her hair back with a paw. I watched her walk in the opposite direction of us, so I turned around to follow the Commander.
When went back onto the deck in time to see the sun setting below the horizon, making the sky and deep blue purple and the clouds shone a bright orange. Rangi seemed less interested in the view and was rubbing his right arm with his paw. I needed to make an effort to talk to him later and ask if he is ok, but tonight wasn't going to be the time for that. We were no doubt still exhausted from what just happened and needed rest.
"I suppose the two of you are tired, follow me." the Commander said seeming to read our minds. He led us into the doors that the Admiral had entered, and immediately to the left through a small set of double doors. Inside the room was an area that two furs could sleep in comfortably with two cots each big enough to hold two furs. "Here you can rest. The Admiral or I will wake you in the morning, and explain more of what will happen to you both. Rest assured that the both of you are in good paws."
With that he bowed and left the room. Both Rangi and I regarded each other but said nothing as we were too tired. We both collapsed on our beds and quickly fell asleep. No doubt that even this rest would leave us feeling restless.